20 replies to this topic

[kmidderigh]

Looking for some advise about the use of alloy wheel spacers - never bought after market wheels so not had any experience in this area  - my question is :

 

- Are they safe to use and just whats required to fit them ?

 

- background :my son has a set of 17inch aftermarket wheels with an 8 bolt pattern fitted to his Suzuki Swift - but with only 4 bolts holding the wheels on (the standard wheels for this car should be 14 or 15 inch). He went into Quick Fit this morning for a puncture repair and was told his wheels where dangerous and causing rubbing on the suspension as no spacers had been fitted - they suggested he went to Halfords and purchased some spacers to fix the issue. Having got there he was told that Halfords don't sell them any more and it was more trouble than it was worth to fit them so new wheels were really the answer. Not sure I believe either of these answers (wasn't there to question them)

 

I guess a better question is whats required to ensure the wheels fit safely and how do I tell if this wheel size is just not safe for the car ?

 

Thank.

[fred666]

Slap a set of 5mm spacers on with the OEM bolts just so the wheels clear the struts etc. Job done.

 

Hubcentric spacers are the safest bet but for something as small as 5-10mm - I'd go with normal spacers. If you go 10mm, make sure the OEM bolts are long enough.

 

PS - Suzuki swifts have huge arches, assuming its the newer shape, and there's a factory model that comes on 17's. The issue is to do with the width or offset off your son's wheels.

[fiveoclock]

If you fit 10mm spacers the original wheel bolts will NOT be long enough. How much do you need to space it out? We use 3mm spacers on the rear of the race car with std bolts without issue but any thicker than that and I would use longer bolts.

Edited by fiveoclock, 29 December 2014 - 07:13 PM.

[kmidderigh]

Thanks for the replies - yes it is new shape swift. Is there a scientific method to work out the required spacer thickness or is it suck it and see ? (Ie can I compare the spec of the current wheels with some official Suzuki ones to work out the offset difference) Will look into longer bolts as well.... PS the rubbing cant be that bad as most of the time you can't hear it.

Edited by kmidderigh, 29 December 2014 - 10:22 PM.

[Hark]

It's just a matter of comparing the offsets mate. So an ET 25 wheel compared with an ET 35 wheel might require a 10mm spacer.

[kmidderigh]

Great thanks

[slindborg]

It's just a matter of comparing the offsets mate. So an ET 25 wheel compared with an ET 35 wheel might require a 10mm spacer.

But only if the rim width is the same. Sounds like he purchased multifit rims and didn't nessecarily understand about width and offsets, wider rims will need a reduction in offset to keep them in the same 'place' as the oem ones etc. As Fred said, spacers with the right length bolts are fine

[Hark]

Sorry, yes that's obviously for rims of the same width. Sorry.

[scw02102]

http://www.superform...ntric-explained Basically hubcentric is best and what I would use as there is no extra stress on the bolts

[slindborg]

http://www.slindborg...ffset/index.php I'll try and remember how it worked Put original width/offset in, put new in and leave the distance as 0. It'll tell you how far the inner and outer edges have moved etc so you can guesstimate the spacer, or just forget the calculator and lob a 5mm in

Edited by slindborg, 30 December 2014 - 09:28 AM.

[slindborg]

http://www.superform...ntric-explained Basically hubcentric is best and what I would use as there is no extra stress on the bolts

There is no extra stress on the bolts with non hub centric. Do we need to drag out the guff about wheel bore and the plastic vs metal debate

[kmidderigh]

I took one of the wheels off this morning to take look for the offset figure - its ET40 and the wheels are 17inch - with 205/40/ZR17 tyres on at present (this was on the car when we bought it)

 

The wheels mate directly with the hub so theres no spiggot ring - I couldnt see any signs of rubbing on the tyres/wheels/wheel arch liner/suspension (i'm assuming it would be fairley easy to spot - pics here :

 

https://plus.google....603294609746433

 

According to wheel-size.com the Suzuki Swift 2006 1.3 standard tyre/wheels are : 165/70/R14 Rim : 5x14 ET45

 

but other available fitments are 195/55/R15 with 6.5 x 15 ET32 or 6 x 15 ET34

 

So the current wheels are wider then the largest specified...err....finger in the air...5mm spacers should be enough if any required...still not convinced.

 

Probably take the car to another garage to get another opinion and a better explanation of the possible issue (if any)

 

[slindborg]

Can't see any rubbing there, unless they mean on lock

[TheRealVXed]

The rule of thumb is generally to keep the offset more or less the same where possible to avoid changing scrub radii etc.  However note at the expense of rubbing. 

 

Essentially you have moved the inside of the tyre 15mm closer to the suspension than the standard 165 13inch ET45 wheels.

 

In order to maintain the original(ish) setting you need to reduce the ET of the new wheels by around 10-15mm.  I would get some hubcentric spacers for this.  Although careful you don't go too big, because a 15mm spacer will move the outside of the tyre 40mm further out than standard.

 

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/performance/wheel-spacers-and-pcd-adaptors/hub-buddies-hubcentric-wheel-spacer 

[Hark]

Why would adding a 15mm spacer move the tyre 40mm out? Not a criticism, just can't get my head around it.

[techieboy]

Because it's also a wider wheel/tyre as well as the incorrect offset.

[TheRealVXed]

165mm width.  lets say for arguments sake the hub is at 0.

 

165/2 = half width of tyre.  So the stock rim tyre outer edge is 82.5mm from the hub face IF the offset of the rim is 0

 

with this rim, the offset (ET) is 45mm, so take that away from 82.5 and you have the actual outer edge of the tyre sitting 37.5mm outside the hub face.

 

Change this to a 205mm tyre and I'll do the same calculation.

 

205/2 = 102.5mm

ET = 40

102.5 - 40 = 62.5mm from hub face

 

so the difference is

 

62.5 - 37.5 = 25mm

 

BUT

 

if we add the spacer in for the larger wheel the ET is reduced by 15mm.

 

So now the distance from the hub is....

102.5 - 25 = 77.5mm

 

77.5 - 37.5 = 40mm

 

does that make sense?

[kmidderigh]

Thanks thats very informative - as the current alloys are pretty tatty and purchasing hub centric spacers, fitting bolts etc to support them seems a bit of a waste its likely that we will just ebay the entire set (as the tyres are almost new) and buy a decent set which fit properly!

 

Thanks for all your input.  

[fred666]

Wow this thread has become very comlpicated, If it's rubbing and he doesn't even notice, 5-10mm is bound to sort the issue.

 

You could talk all day about offsets and widths, pcd, stud pattern etc, but i don't think it's really needed in this topic.

 

There will be a lip of centre bore using 5mm spacers anyway so hubcentric need not be an option. you'll struggle to get hubcentrics unless you go much larger anyway.

 

5mm spacers and standard bolts, or 10mm spacers and slightly longer bolts if needed (depends what are supplied) and job done.

 

http://www.1010tires...fset-Calculator - If you want to get it bang on

[kmidderigh]

had a go using the calculator and made the assumption that the current 17inch rims are either 6.5 or 7 inch (ET40)  and using the standard wheels (5 inch with ET45) as a starting point this gives :

 

17" at 6.5 width :

 

inner clearance diff of  : 14mm LESS

outer position diff : EXTEND an extra 24mm

 

so more than 10 mm spacers needed if you wanted to get to same position

 

if you compare this to the largest wheel specified by Suzuki :

 

6.5 x 15 ET32 :

 

inner clearance diff of : 8mm LESS

outer position diff :RETRACT by 8mm

 

so 10mm spacers would have been ok!

 

....academic at this point as the draw of shiny new alloys was to much for my son - hes ordered some more.....cant say I blame him...mmm...shiny new wheels..